Green light and a faint white glow flashed simultaneously across Whimsicott’s body.
The Leech Seed greedily siphoned away Conkeldurr’s stamina.
At the same time, the Leftovers Whimsicott carried emitted a warm halo, continuously nourishing his injured body.
The two restorative forces stacked, causing Whimsicott’s condition to recover at a visible rate.
The frost melted, his cotton-like fluff puffed up again, and the damage from the previous strike was mostly healed in the blink of an eye!
“What?!” The man in overalls widened his eyes in disbelief.
‘Leftovers’ wasn’t actual leftover food.
It was a specialized held item developed from Berries and Pokémon traits, simply named ‘Leftovers’.
Furthermore, in this world, items didn’t remain in pristine condition forever; their lifespan was affected by the number of uses and duration.
However, with the combined recovery of Leftovers and Leech Seed, if one couldn’t defeat Whimsicott quickly, they would simply be slowly stalled to death.
“Conkeldurr, don’t give him a chance!
Ice Punch, again!”
Conkeldurr let out a low growl, his massive fist tearing through the air as it hurtled toward the newly stabilized Whimsicott.
Shane’s brow twitched.
‘He didn’t use Knock Off or Taunt?
Does he not know them?’
“Whimsicott, Protect.”
A semi-spherical, transparent shield instantly sprang up around Whimsicott, firmly blocking the lethal strike.
The moment the shield shattered, the glow of Leech Seed and Leftovers flared up once more.
Under the despairing gaze of the man in overalls, Whimsicott’s health was pulled back to near full!
“Crap!
Mach Punch!” Cold sweat beaded on the man’s forehead as he opted for a faster attack.
“Whimsicott, Substitute!”
A wisp of white light separated from Whimsicott, rapidly condensing beside him into a lopsided, cotton-like dinosaur toy substitute.
Conkeldurr’s lightning-fast Mach Punch struck the substitute with a dull thud.
The decoy wobbled and dimmed slightly in color, but it did not dissipate.
Meanwhile, Whimsicott himself was bathed in the restorative light once again, returning to peak condition!
“Ice Punch!” The man in overalls was completely panicking now.
Conkeldurr roared, gathering frost around his fist for the third time.
However—
“Protect.”
The familiar transparent shield flared up again, keeping the violent ice punch at bay.
The shield shattered, and the green and white lights arrived right on cue.
Whimsicott remained as energetic as ever.
The tactical objective had been achieved.
Behind his glasses, Shane’s eyes locked onto Conkeldurr, who was now panting heavily from the Leech Seed and continuous attacks.
Since the moment Leftovers’ effect activated, the opponent hadn’t used Knock Off to counter the strategy.
The answer was obvious.
‘He doesn’t know Knock Off, and his Ability is Sheer Force.’
“It’s over.
Whimsicott, Moonblast!”
Whimsicott leaped gracefully, his small body stretching out in mid-air as if embracing the moonlight.
Pure, majestic Fairy-type energy gathered at his chest.
The absolute suppression in speed left Conkeldurr with no way to evade.
Boom!
The moonlight accurately pierced through Conkeldurr’s massive frame.
At the center of the energy burst, a blinding orange-yellow light flashed and vanished.
A critical hit, and super effective!
Smoke and dust filled the air.
Conkeldurr’s enormous body swayed before crashing to his knees.
The concrete pillars slipped from his grasp and slammed into the ground with a heavy thud.
Then, he completely lost the will to fight.
A one-hit knockout!
The man in overalls opened his mouth, staring at his proud partner in such a sorry state.
Finally, he raised his hand in defeat.
“I…
I actually lost.”
The referee immediately waved the flag.
“Conkeldurr is unable to battle!
The winner is Shane!”
After a brief silence, the restaurant erupted into enthusiastic cheers and applause!
Many customers stood up in excitement.
“He won?
He actually won?!”
“My god, that tiny Whimsicott actually stalled out a massive Conkeldurr?!”
“Didn’t they say Shane was bad at battling?
That commanding…
you call that bad?!”
“What do you know!
Who are you comparing him to?
The only peer around Shane’s level is Kade.”
“Who’s Kade?”
“The champion of the National College Freshman Battle Tournament four years ago!”
“What about Shane?
Did he not participate back then?”
“No, he was taking the Intermediate Breeder exam at the time, and casually broke the national record for the youngest to pass.
An eighteen-year-old Intermediate Breeder!”
“Damn!
What kind of freaks are they, excelling in both breeding and battling?!”
“What did you expect?
They aren’t called the Demonic Duo of Magic City for nothing.”
Amidst the gasps, discussions, and adoring gazes, Shane stepped down from the battlefield.
Whimsicott had already thrown himself into Shane’s arms like a streak of white light.
“Beautifully done, my little hero.”
“Whimsi!”
Shane caught Whimsicott securely, then pulled a high-grade Grass-type Pokéblock from his pocket like a magic trick and offered it to him.
Whimsicott happily narrowed his eyes, holding the Pokéblock and nibbling on it, his fluffy tail brushing against Shane’s arm in delight.
Carrying him, Shane walked toward the counter to pay for their meal.
His steps were unhurried, leaving behind a group of customers who were still heatedly discussing the match, their eyes following his retreating back.
In the crowd, Piper was so excited that her fingers were trembling slightly.
She gripped her phone tightly, the screen frozen on the breathtaking moment Whimsicott unleashed Moonblast.
Her heart pounded wildly, feeling as if it might leap out of her chest.
‘Oh my god!’
‘He’s too strong!’
‘Is this Shane’s true strength?’
‘Using a flawless combination of Abilities, items, and moves to perfectly defeat his opponent.’
‘Whimsicott is amazing too.’
‘Those maneuvers…
so precise.’
Piper thought excitedly.
‘This is definitely Shane’s first publicly recorded Pokémon battle.’
‘It’s too precious, I have to save it!’
‘No…
wait!’
A stronger urge welled up inside her.
‘Such a brilliant battle, such a radiant upperclassman—how can I be the only one to see this?’
‘Shane’s charm, the heroic bearing of the Pokémon he breeds, his wisdom in live commanding…
everyone should know about it.’
‘He’s not just a genius in the breeding world; he shines just as brightly in the battling arena.’
‘I’m going to make this public.
I’ll let everyone see just how strong Magic City University’s Pokémon Charmer really is!’
Piper took a deep breath, backed up the precious battle video five times, and then added some background music, getting ready to upload it.
‘Shane, you deserve everyone’s attention!’
…
The break time passed quickly.
At 3:40 PM, Shane’s exam number popped up on the electronic screen.
Whimsicott immediately patted the back of Shane’s hand with his cottony paw, the cold white light of the hall reflecting in his orange eyes.
“Whimsi?”
“It’s our turn.” Shane buried his face in the fluffy cotton on Whimsicott’s head and took a deep breath.
“I’ll have to rely on myself from here on out.
You get some good rest.”
“Whimsi…”
‘Alright, looks like I’ll just have to wait.’
Inside the examination room, a Gliscor was curled up in the corner of the examination table, its tail pincer unconsciously tapping against the metal surface, making an intermittent clicking sound.
Its carapace had an unnatural pale purple hue, and its throat muscles were twitching slightly.
“Gli…” Gliscor warily raised its tail stinger, its compound eyes sweeping over the solitary figure approaching.
Shane stopped three steps away and crouched down, bringing his line of sight level with the examination table.
“Gliscor, don’t be afraid.”